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LANCASTER, Ohio — Lancaster police
filed homicide charges yesterday against a driver who had been drinking before his Chevy Suburban
hit and killed a woman who was pushing a shopping cart in the road early Saturday morning.

Christopher B. Bayer II, 29, of Lancaster, was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide and
reckless homicide. The vehicular-homicide charge carries a maximum of eight years in prison, while
the reckless-homicide charge could lead to five years in prison.

Operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol is a lesser charge that is
included in both homicide charges, Lt. Greg Seesholtz said.

Bayer turned himself in yesterday and was released on a $50,000 personal-recognizance bond,
Seesholtz said.

Bayer is accused of driving drunk when his SUV hit and killed Mary Rose Nutter as she pushed a
shopping cart along the 900 block of W. Fair Ave. at 2:41 a.m. Saturday. Police said she was in the
roadway, but they didn’t know how far from the edge.

Bayer called 911, and he later took a breath test at the police station. It showed his
blood-alcohol level was 0.115 percent. In Ohio, a person is considered to be driving drunk at 0.08
percent.

Nutter, 69, of Lancaster, died at the scene, which was strewn with groceries that spilled from
her shopping bags. Her tennis shoes were knocked off her feet.

Before the crash, Nutter had been shopping at the Kroger on E. Main Street and had visited one
of the area Walgreen drugstores, and she apparently was walking home, Seesholtz said.